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Darren Knipp named president and CEO of Balance Innovations

New executive leadership to expand company’s strategic direction

Lenexa, Kan.: Balance Innovations has named Darren Knipp as its new president and CEO.

“Darren’s background is a perfect fit for taking Balance Innovations to the next level,” said Kurt Mueller, chairman of the board of managers and acting president and CEO of Balance Innovations. “His experience leading a team that took a software company from a start-up to more than $300 million in annual revenue will be invaluable to us as we advance as a key solution provider to the retail industry.”

Knipp’s varied, extensive background includes 12 years at Perceptive Software, where he served most recently as chief operating officer. Prior to Perceptive, he was group product manager for Interwoven and general manager for Boeing’s Silicon Valley lab. Knipp was also an officer in the United States Air Force, serving as senior product manager and development engineer for complex global systems. He has a master’s degree in business from the Webster University School of Business, a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas, and a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy.

“Darren’s leadership experience gives him a fresh perspective on our opportunities and has uniquely prepared him to lead us as we move toward developing more complex solutions for retailers and further expand and strengthen our strategic partnerships,” Mueller said.

“Balance Innovations is an established leader in the retail software solutions space,” said Knipp. “I’m excited to lead the company as we expand our product offerings into new markets and work with our strategic partners for future growth. We are building on the company’s strong portfolio of applications and platform technologies to create solutions that enable retailers to look deeper at their front-end operations. They can then take more immediate and targeted action, improving efficiencies, performance and, ultimately, customer service.”

Balance Innovations’ software solutions unify standalone systems on the retail front end. Gathering information from transactions at a variety of touchpoints, the SaaS-based solutions provide analytics, as well as reporting and alerting capabilities. These equip retailers to make data-driven decisions in real time, optimizing front-end operations based on their organizational goals.

Mueller said bringing Knipp on board completes the company’s executive leadership team, which expanded with the addition of Scott Young, executive vice president of sales and development, in February. Young brought 30 years of experience in software product management and marketing and is working to expand the company’s product suite and redesign its architecture, greatly increasing the number of potential customers.

“Scott’s experience in growing technology companies has helped us define and advance our business model,” said Mueller. “He is focused on positioning Balance Innovations as a leader in providing solutions that improve front-end efficiency and make the most of the technologies in which retailers have already invested.”

“I’m eager to help the company deliver on a new technology platform and bring SaaS solutions to our customers,” said Young. “Our solutions provide retailers with analytics they have never seen before and unify their existing technologies to increase operational effectiveness from the corporate level down to each individual store.”